Winter Is Here

Happy Winter From the Jersey Gardener.

Hopefully by now you have offered your plants the protection they will need to survive the winter season. Protection from harsh winds and heavy snows to prevent dehydration and breakage of your Bonsai trees and tender perennials. A good helping od a loose mulch will keep the grond frozen and prevent early growth that will be killed off by late frosts.

So You Want To Bonsai?

Bonsai, the ancient art of miniaturizing nature, Growing natural trees in a small way. Tree in pot. Sounds easy but when practiced one finds it much more difficult than usually thought. To grow healthy Bonsai trees all of its needs have to be met, from water, sun light, and fertilizers and pruning. Learning all this takes time and research, this time and effort will be well rewarded if implemented.

When starting out to grow your own bonsai trees it is highly recommended to use local native species. You can make a lot of educational mistakes that won't cost you an arm and a leg. Many people start with tropical trees that can be grown inside in the winter in areas too cold for their survival. Tropical bonsai tend to be faster growing than the non tropical trees that usually need a cool or even a cold winter to mature.

Patience is the first and most important attribute that someone needs to grow bonsai. Many of the best trees can actually out live the grower. When the proper care and environment is created a Bonsai tree can live over one hundred years. Many of these specimen trees are handed down through generations. These trees can fetch thousands of dollars if they are ever sold.

Selecting the plant material that you want to use can vary from the tropical to the local trees, but can also include perennial plants like herbs and chrysanthemums. As these plants are not as long lived and also grow much faster will help you on your educational path.

Yes, Using herbs as bonsai has been done for centuries. Small leaves and a mature looking growth in one season can help in the learning process. When I was in Japan I was there for the chrysanthemum festival and on display were a number of different herbs as bonsai. The chrysanthemum on display had feature as intricate as full grown forests. The great thing about Bonsai as an art is to mimic nature in a smaller form. Have fun with what ever plant materials you want to use. Most of the original bonsai art was done with local and native plants.

Today the most sought after Bonsai trees are from Japan, China and Asia, as these trees have the images that people are looking for in the Art of Bonsai. If You seek out these trees be prepared to spend good money to get them. Most important is that as a Bonsai enthusiast getting started is the first step.

The great thing about using herbs and other perennials is that you will get faster growth and you will learn more. The more you try to do the better skills you will develop. And if you make a mistake with a perennial you have not lost a long lived tree. Bonsai can be very rewarding and may teach you a few things in the process. Seek out the help you will need from the many that have gone before you, their knowledge is priceless.

Fall Cleanup New and Improved

OK so for many years I have been a fan of more horse power, power blowers and gas powered everything to help in my fall cleanups. After blowing all the leaves and debris from the garden, I would then pick it all up and then shred it before putting on top the compost pile. I am a big promoter of Organic Gardening and Composting it critical to maintaining a healthy garden.

OK So back to my point... this year I was introduced to a product from BLACK and DECKER. It is their vacuum shredder. It is electric and is a power house of a tool. With this powerful little sucker there is no need to rake out the garden beds and from under the shrubs, all you do is suck up all the leaves and debris and it shreds and bags it all. Just dump it into the compost and you are done!

The time savings was great did my whole garden in just a couple of hours instead of more than a day as in the past. Love this tool and it cost only $79. A bargain and big time saver.



High Performance Blower Vac Leaf Hog
Model: BV4000

Changing Season is Time to Move Some Plants Indoors

I just love the changing seasons, with Autumn in full color and the morning air has that clean crisp smell I like to get out in the garden and see what needs cleaning up and what need replanting or dividing. But Today it is raining so hard ( a couple of inches so far) the garden looks more like a water garden. With rain like this it is a good opportunity to see if you have any drainage problems that may need fixing before the winter gets here.

Another thing that is happening around the garden is I am looking for homes for the many indoor plants that will have to come inside before the first frost or be cast away. If You have grown Your house plants out side they could now be root bound or infested with insect eggs that will hatch when they get into the warm dry house. So if you check the roots by removing the pot you can check to See if you need to add soil or loosen the root mass. Be careful that you don't disturb the plant too much. You an also inspect for insects. You can get a good liquid to treat for insects at you local garden center. I use a solution of mild soap and an old cigar.

Soaking the butt of a cigar in water then straining the cigar out will give you a brown liquid... add soap and then water the plants thoroughly. Do this a few days before you bring in your plants and best to allow the plant to dry out just before they are moved inside. Using the tobacco water and soap mix as a spray will kill off anything on the plants leaves. Don't use tobacco water on edibles.

"Spring Gardener Gable Greenhouse"

 "More grows in the garden than the gardener knows he has sown."

--Spanish Proverb

Frost Warning?

Hey it is only the 16 Th of September and already frost warnings. New Jersey has some of the weirdest weather, Frost in summer snow in the autumn and skiing in 75 degree weather in winter. Well I certainly hope there is no frost as you can see from the latest pictures some of the best flowers are blooming. Check out the Night Blooming Cirrus. Blooming all night until about mid morning with a fragrance that is intoxicating.





Tropical Hibiscus is blooming strong along with the Pomergranite Bonsai trees. It would be nice not to have an early frost.

End of the Summer

Here it is the Summer's end, Labor day weekend. Many of use will spend the weekend getting to the beach or the mountains, some will spend time in their gardens. How ever you will be enjoying your time,please remember those that are insuring our freedoms. It such a great gift we enjoy here in the USA, the freedom to do what we enjoy doing.

So if you're spending time in your garden as I will be,it is time to harvest all the rip fruit of your labor. Did you grow a lot of tomatoes? They make great salsa. Jellybean salsa is made with Jellybean tomatoes some vinegar, cilantro and my secret formula hot sauce. Throw it all into the food processor and lend it up to your liking. If you save some of the tomatoes to add in last you can make your salsa chunky.

Hope you all have a great weekend.

Asters the returning gem

I really like the aster, this one keep surprising me. When I first planted these aster a couple of years ago it was a simple yellow center with purple petals. Since then there has been these pink ones and ones that are more like button mums. This deep purple color is welcome in the late summer garden. Just when the color around the deck has faded these ever faithful Asters show up with there bright colors. The planters around my deck have not been planted in a couple of years, what has grown in them has always been a surprise.

From sunflowers and Johny Jump ups to tomatoes and asters, ever decorating the border of the sunny deck. Having so many different plants around the house has attracted many kinds of birds and butterflies. If you set it up the right way your garden will do the same for you. It really is not hard to do and will be very rewarding.

Meditation Garden

Gardens can re-energize our inner being. Taking time to relax and meditate in your garden will be a great benefit for your health and wellness. Over the weekend I took a bunch of pictures from my garden and put them to music. The music is a Chant from India. Asato Maa by Ravi Shankar Chants Of India World So if you want to recharge take a few minutes and watch, listen and feel the energy coming through.
There are many good healthy reasons to start your meditation garden. It doesn't have to be large, it can be just a small planting on your deck or near the front walkway.
Whether your garden is planted in the ground or planted in pots and planters, you will reap the benefit of the life forces that you will attract. Check out the videos at the bottom of the blog. Let me know what you think and spread the good.
Here's a link
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ih17Yb_9gmk

Create Summer Color In Your Backyard Garden

Create Summer color in your backyard garden is sometimes tricky, as the summer heat can wilt you plants and blooms. Keeping the more needy plants watered will help a lot. Dead heading and a little summer pruning will help keep your plant in a healthy condition.
In our neighborhood we get a lot of Swallowtail Butterfly's, and some Monarchs. The photos you see through out my blog here are all from less than 1/8 acre. So you can see you can get a lot out of a small yard. Layering your plants so the final effect is non stop color in the garden. As long as the weeds don't get ahead of our efforts. Summer color in my garden comes from large Hibiscus and Butterfly bushes. Giant Blue Hydrangea is a real stand out.
So if You want a garden that attracts the eye and wildlife, plant a variety. Seeing and finding plants at your local garden center is always benefited by seeing how different plant work together or not. Many mistakes are made when selecting plants. Plant of similar needs tend to work well together.

Brand New Family of Cardinals

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFRwA7Hg6jM

Waiting For The Sun

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hf2sXkGZgT0

Waiting For The Sun

Waiting for the sun, as many are getting rained out. I put together photos taken from my backyard garden and set it to music, so watch and enjoy. Butterfly garden has attracked a lot of butterflies and Hummingbird moths, they move fast.
Summer time can have its share of work so cut back the overgrown stuff and anything that has gone to seed or has died back. Keeping the garden clean of debris will keep down pests and disease.
Keep up on keeping the weeds down.

Brand New Family of Cardinals

Check out the you tube video good music set to a series of a Mother and Father Cardinal feeding their young. Taken in my backyard garden. It is great to be working at home to be able to take pictures like these.
Balanced living. Work from home doing what you love to do and make a good living at it. Setting up a good home based business is easier than you may think. Do you and your loved ones a big favor and learn how you can do it too.
www.NowYouBeYou.com

Sunflower at Night

Happy sunflower that found its way into one of flower boxes on the deck. When i first put in the flower boxes I had to plant them each year, For the past many years we only had to add compost and fertilize. Every thing from Asters to Zinnias seem to pop up. Cilantro and tomatoes are some of this year's self sown surprises.

Jersey Gardener: Bonsai Pruning and Training#links#links#links

Jersey Gardener: Bonsai Pruning and Training#links#links#links

Bonsai Leaf Prune Update

As you can see from the picture of a Japanese Maple Bonsai in training, the leaves have been growing back and the color is more intense.
Over the years of doing this the leaves will begin get smaller. A really cool technique to improve the scale of you Bonsai.
The art of training these small copies of giant trees take a very long time. But the satisfaction of training your own living art will be great. May your Bonsai tree out live your very long life.

Hot Hot Hot Summertime!

Wow the summer heat is here! Staying cool and hydrated is very important for good health. Your garden needs water to stay healthy too. This is can be a little tricky with water restrictions and evaporation, so when is the best time to water?

Personally I go for the early morning. This give your plants enough time to absorb the vital water. Some would tell you that in the evening would be better, but this can lead to all sorts of problems.
Moisture sitting on your plants and lawn all night can lead to insect damage and disease.
In the moist dark climate slugs love to do their thing. Chewing little holes in plants like Hosta and your vegetables. I have an organic fix for slugs (tell You later). Slug damage is ugly but won't harm your plants.
Other problems from moisture in the warm summer nights are molds and mildew. Various molds can destroy your lawn and your favorite plants.
Lilacs and phlox will become infected with powdery mildew and eventually die from this pest. To prevent this from occurring clean up all over grown and dead plant material often. Help your plants have air circulation. Water in the early morning while it is still cool. Try not to water too late in the day as this will just waste water through evaporation.

Potted plants will have a bigger need for water than ground plants. Some can be moved into the shade, this will lower the stress on your plants. Using water absorbing materials will help maintain water for later use by the plants. So keep an eye out for the needs of your garden and help it flourish... don't drown it!

Summertime, Time to prune, weed and clean up.

Look around your garden, what do you see? As the weather gets warmer and the lazy day of summer are upon us, it is time to get some maintenance done. Cutting back overgrown shrubs will help them to keep their nice shape. As you have seen I had leaf pruned my Bonsai trees. This helps with scale of the tree and color. Dead Heading ( what a term) what does this mean? Well simply it is taking off the spent flower blooms. On the annual that you have planted this will force a new blooming. On our perennials this will help the plant get stronger. Don't dead head the plants that you want to set seed. Biennials are plants that set seed this season and bloom the following year. So we don't dead head these.

Good Design Goes a Long Way

If your homes landscape is designed properly it will be a source of enjoyment for your entire family, it will enhance your community and add to the resale value of your property. Landscape design involves much more than placing trees, shrubs and other plants on the property. It is an art which deals with conscious arrangement or organization of outdoor space for human satisfaction and enjoyment. In Homeowners Guide To Landscaping you will learn how to: Organize and develop your yard for maximum use and pleasure; Create a visual relationship between the house and the site and Reduce maintenance to the minimum.

Bonsai Pruning and Training

Lately I have been pruning all the maples that I have been growing. Leaf pruning does wonders for the look of your trees. Bonsai growing is a slow and patient business. Take your time before you cut, as it will not grow back. After you have leaf pruned your trees, this is a good time to look at the overall shape of your tree. Using training wire shape the tree to the desired shape. This maybe done a number of times throughout the life of you tree, to get just the right shape and look.

When wiring your trees make sure you bend the wire tightly around the trunk from the bottom up. Wire should be evenly spaced and snug to the tree. Too loose and the bend won't hold and all your work would be wasted.

Japanese Red Maple Leaf Pruning

Bonsai Tip Of The Day

June is the month to prune you Maple trees, Birch, Hornbeam and other deciduous trees. What I do at this time is take off all the leaves. Why? You may be asking. Well when you take the leaves off the tree you are forcing the tree to grow new ones. When they grow back there will be more leaves and they will be smaller. This adds to the scale of your tree. Fall color will also be more intense. After a few years of doing this you will have a awesome Bonsai tree. You will look like a master Bonsai Guru. Here are a series of pictures to show you what to do....

The Suburban Garden Retreat

Grapes, pineapples, ginger all on the garden path. Four grape vines and some supplies from Home Depot.... now it is a summer retreat. Shade in the middle of the day is a great place to work on Bonsai Trees.

Mazzy Star - Flowers In December

First Day of Summer

Here are a couple of pictures of my back yard retreat. The grapes are growing well and creating a bit of shade on the patio. Great place to sit around and blog from. This is a easy to build and grow. Plus the bonus of fresh grape later in the season. Growing grapes has its benefits.
Do you grow Bonsai trees? Well if you do today is a good time to remove the leaves on your maple trees... if you don't know what to do let me know. Removing the leaves will force the tree to grow new ones. This will make the new leaves much smaller and add to the scale of your tree. Autumn color will be greatly increased. Maples are not the only tree that benefit from this treatment... learn more and get the most out of your back yard.

Classic Bonsai and Bonsai Growing on Lava Rock

Spruce Growing on Lava Rock with roots growing over the rock. Approximately 9 years old. Classic Style Juniper trained like Karate Kid and is approximately 30 years old.

BBC Worldwide: Attenborough - Titan Arum

Afternoon pictures

Backyard Gardening for Fun and Profit

Throughout NJ people are using their personal garden to sit and relax in and also to make money. Growing speciality plant can make you money. Wether you grow vegetables or annuals a little bit of effort can go a long way. In my small garden you will find unique Bonsai trees growing right next to tomatoes or a perennial like Hosta and Poppies.

Down the Gardener's Path

Take a break from the hustle and bustle of suburban life in your garden. Enter the garden and enjoy all the nature it attracts. Planning your garden will help you attract wildlife like birds, baby ducks and butterflies.
Create a relaxing oasis to recharge you own energy.